Why an Aboriginal Ethical Perspective is Necessary for Research into Aboriginal Health.

The history of Aboriginal health is a sad legacy of the control over Aboriginal people by a dominant culture following the conquest of their land and its subsequent colonisation.

In a previous AH&MRC summary of this Report the importance of the document is emphasized, in particular its recommendation that the initial stages of research and data collection into Aboriginal health have to conform to stringent guidelines that meet Aboriginal community approval.

The purpose of the NSW Aboriginal Health Information Guidelines is to ensure consistency and good practice in the management of health and health-related information about Aboriginal peoples in NSW. This extends to issues surrounding the collection, ownership, storage, security, access, release, usage, reporting and interpretation of information, as well as issues of confidentiality and privacy.

The parties to the NSW Aboriginal Health Information Guidelines are the members of the NSW Aboriginal Health Partnership, that is, the NSW Health Department and the NSW Aboriginal Health Resource Cooperative Limited (AHRC) representing Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services in NSW.

August 1998